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Video of Mercedes Benz three-car S-Class pile-up

Video of Mercedes Benz three-car S-Class pile-up

Posted Dec 2nd 2005 10:00AM

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This story keeps getting better and better. Sean G. sent us a link to a video on Stern TV's German website showing the actual three-car S-Class pile-up that occurred during a demonstration of Mercedes' Brake Assist PLUS system to journalists. WATCH THIS CLIP because it's funny as all get out and we finally learn what "Scheiße!" means in German.

The best part of the clip is watching the second car accelerate into a dense plume of fog and immediately slam into the first car. Priceless. It's like The Three Stooges performed by three giant luxo cruisers.

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MasoodR

I watched the whole report, since I am a native German speaker. The whole test was a sham because Distronic doesn't work in the test center, because of metallic interference. The MB and Autobild testers were basically doing a big charade for SternTV, claiming that the warning worked when in fact the board on the floor was acting as a mechanical cue for the driver to break. Very embarassing for DCX. The interview following the video was with a rep of DCX, who was getting grilled about the disingenuousness of the whole thing. he admitted that DCX screwed up, he apologized, and claimed that it was "dumb". AutoBild refused to participate in the studio interview or do a conference link, because they are presumably embarassed at being in cahoots with DCX (it was their test driver). Poor DCX guy did his best apologizing, and assuring people that Distronic works in real world conditions on the road, i.e. not in the test hall. Over 800 journalists and German testing agencies like TueV had confirmed DCX claims with tests, he claimed. Still, a nice car. A complete PR disaster though!

December 03 2005 at 3:07 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Gil

"Scheisse" means "shit/crap/damn". If only the damn thing would download completely I would post a translation for all you guys

December 02 2005 at 3:33 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jux

What a coincidence! At the moment I'm reading the book "The Daimler Desaster" and this story just fits perfectly into the picture. I just would never ever buy a car from the Daimler-Chrysler Group, they are just ridiculous. See here: (I think only available in german) http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/3426272679/qid=1133548466/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/303-5773483-9949858

December 02 2005 at 1:38 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Brian

That was hilarious!

December 02 2005 at 12:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

great video!! #5: the board was there so the driver would know when to break. Accordig to them the "Brake Assist PLUS system" would make a sound when approaching an obstacle so you'd know when to break. the problem is the driver's microphone was ON the whole time and you never heard a sound coming from the car. All you could see was the driver breaking after "feeling" the board on the front wheel. The best part of the video is when some journalists ask to go on the back seat of the car during the second test. at first they agree but then they don't let them "ride along". Later you hear the driver say: if they come along they won't hear the system telling me so strat breaking and they'll notice the system isnt working this is what i understood from the video. I apologize if there are any mistakes on my writing and if I didn't fully understand what the germans were saying. neither of the languages is my mother tongue

December 02 2005 at 12:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

W. Virtue

I saw a demo of their new night vision in the new S class. It works no better. Seems like they still haven't been able to quaratine that Chrysler virus that spread like wildfire when they "merged". It first showed up a unreliability now it's reared it's ugly head in overstated technical prowess.

December 02 2005 at 11:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

AJU

Having worked for Mercedes-Benz and visited the Sindelfingen Crash hall on many occasions, what is clear is that yet another MB system involving electronics has failed. Hoax or no hoax, you have to feel sorry for the journalist! Mercedes reliability is poorer than it has ever been, just look at the new E-class with all the SBC brake failures and electronic gremlins. If you want an S-class buy a used old model W140 series. They do not go wrong. Or buy a new Lexus LS when it comes out!

December 02 2005 at 11:21 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

weatherman

I don't understand that much German, and I didn't really catch what the board was for, but I distinctly remember the coach telling the driver something like 'bremsen aber nicht so stark' - brake, but not too hard. I thought the idea was that the driver was to brake a bit but that the auto system would engage the brakes harder to make sure it would stop before the impact. Anyway, not sure what the big stink is about. If there's a flaw in the system I'm sure that Mercedes will work it out and upgrade the cars. What is the full story anyway, sjo?

December 02 2005 at 11:20 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Flanagan

I noticed the plates... This whole thing seemed pretty anticlimactic. Perhaps it's because I don't understand too much German, but the crash itself was hardly the hyped-up disaster of mangled steel that previous reports would lead us to believe. Also, when watching this, you can CLEARLY hear when the car ran over the marker they placed on the floor to indicate to the driver when to brake. How the driver did not hear this is beyond me. He missed it by a good second. Perhaps some test runs would have avoided this whole debacle.

December 02 2005 at 10:53 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Did anyone else notice the license plate on the car that crashed? It ended in "666." Maybe it was an omen...

December 02 2005 at 10:35 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply